Android Outnumbered iPhone 2 to 1 in Summer Sales

The delay in Apple’s usual summer iPhone rollout has been good for Android: Google’s mobile OS has outsold Apple’s iOS two to one in the last three months, finds Nielsen. Fifty-six percent of smartphones sold since June have been Android.
That figure suggests Android’s increasing market share. Among Nielsen’s sample of 25,000 mobile phone owners, 43% have Android devices. Meanwhile, 28% of people who bought a smartphone in the last three months purchased an iPhone, which is consistent with the overall market share of iPhones. Eighteen percent of respondents have a BlackBerry, although only 9% bought one in the last three months.

For Apple, the stagnation likely reflects pent-up demand for the iPhone 5, which is likely to be announced Oct. 4. This will be late for Apple since every iPhone update since 2007 has come during the summer. For BlackBerry, the numbers signal a decline in influence that has been indicated in many other surveys. Similarly, Android has flirted with 50% in other estimates.
Fortunately for all three companies, Nielsen found smartphone penetration is rising. Although 43% of respondents have a smartphone, 58% bought one rather than a feature phone over the past three months.